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The multi-billion-dollar fuelwood trade is the last resort for India's poor As ecological degradation leads to the loss of livelihoods from agriculture and forests, some 11 million desperate people in India eke out a living collecting and selling fuelwood. It might be time to stop viewing the trade as a threat to our forests and to set about organising it and weaving it into our national forest policy instead More... The Van Rawats of Pithoragarh: Victims of lopsided developmentThe nomadic, hunter-gatherer Van Rawats are being pushed out of their traditional forest lands in the name of `development'. But no one seems to be fighting for their rights, despite the fact that they are among the poorest, most vulnerable tribes in the country More... Beedi workers in Chhattisgarh continue to be exploitedIn Chhattisgarh's beedi-producing belt, more than 50,000 families work in the multi-crore beedi industry. Despite the laws that govern this industry, the beedi workers are paid much less than the minimum wage, have no benefits and are constantly at risk of respiratory diseases More... India's school for 'ideal' wivesIn Bhopal, young girls attend a course that teaches them that all marital problems stem from wives who don't know how to keep their egos and tempers in check. Here they learn how to surrender to the patriarchal forces in society, keep their heads covered at all times, and have sex only for procreation! More... Tracking the Drought-III Dry days in Shivpuri
In drought-hit Andhra Pradesh, even tea and tubers are no longer available. The thin gruel doled out at various centres keeps hundreds of starving people going More... Tracking the Drought-II Ratnagiri: Water scarcity amidst plenty
Media attention worldwide has only forced the practice of child labour in the carpet weaving industry of UP, Jharkhand and Bihar underground. In several towns and villages that this reporter travelled to across three North Indian states, children continue to work the looms, but behind closed and guarded doors. Child labour is a fact of life say both factory-owners and parents of the children working here. If they do not work, how will they eat? More... `Franken foods': The US vs the rest of the worldA battle to control the global foodchain is being waged, with the United States attempting to `educate' governments on the virtues of genetically modified foods and their role in eradicating world hunger More... Environmentalists vs BSES: Eco-fragile Dahanu battles onEnvironmentalists claim that a powerful industrial lobby is pressing the termination of the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority, which has been doing its job of protecting this tribal-dominated, eco-sensitive area of Maharashtra, only too well More... 70 million disabled in India, and only 2% are educated and 1% employedAccording to one study, Indians spend Rs 72,000 crore per annum in caring for their disabled family members. The government bears only a fraction of this cost More... Organic cotton: Getting back to the basicsVarious Indian government institutions and organisations have been researching and even endorsing organic cultivation of cotton and other crops. But why is none of this research finding its way to the farmers in India's cotton fields? This is the last in a series on organic cotton More... Cash can't end discriminationWill the recently announced cash incentives to poor mothers giving birth to girls really help to discourage female infanticide, female foeticide or the pervasive neglect of girl-children? More... |
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In Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, the government provides impressive figures of relief works, fodder and water provided to the drought-hit. But in village after village, people have to trek kilometres to collect water, and claim they see no trace of government supplies of grain or fodder as they fight to survive one of the worst droughts in recent history 
Even in the verdant coastal districts of India, such as Ratnagiri in Maharashtra which receives 3,000 mm of rainfall annually, the wells have run dry. What has gone wrong? Why are no solutions to conserve/harvest water visible? The second in our series which tracks the drought across India | Microsites | ||||||
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